The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

System
System Posts: 2,511 admin
in Solar Skeptics, Hype, & Scams Corner #1
I installed a Skystream in 08, was promised 50% grant which was a myth finished it in Dec. 29-08. We did our taxes in 09 for 08 and filled form 5695 and guess what, we have a small farm and with all our deductions and ect. we got back all the Federal taxes we payed in o8. Ok to get the 30% rebate you have to owe taxes before you can claim your 30% stimulus rebate from the taxes you owe. So if I had owed $3000.00 in Federal taxes I could have deducted $1800.00 which is half of my investment 30% I would only had to pay $1200.00 Federal taxes. If anyone knows a way to claim the rebate let me know.

Clayhill, Indiana
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    clayhill wrote: »
    I installed a Skystream in 08, was promised 50% grant which was a myth finished it in Dec. 29-08. We did our taxes in 09 for 08 and filled form 5695 and guess what, we have a small farm and with all our deductions and ect. we got back all the Federal taxes we payed in o8. Ok to get the 30% rebate you have to owe taxes before you can claim your 30% stimulus rebate from the taxes you owe. So if I had owed $3000.00 in Federal taxes I could have deducted $1800.00 which is half of my investment 30% I would only had to pay $1200.00 Federal taxes. If anyone knows a way to claim the rebate let me know.

    Clayhill, Indiana
    Not sure but I think taxes had a ceiling of a $1500.00 federal rebate for 08 taxes. Didn,t the 30% federal rebate start for 09 taxes? I kind of have the same problem and here is my plans. I got all my taxes back for 09 because of getting the 30% solar rebate. I still have over $ 6000.00 tax break left over to roll into the 2010 income tax. I only collected 5 weeks vacation and have or will be on unemployment till the third week of this mointh with the income tax being withheld which will not use up my deduction for the solar. Then I retire. You have to pay income tax on 401-k retirement accounts when you cash them in. I am going to cash all them in this year and use the taxbreak to pay the tax on them. Then starting in tax year 2011 I will no longer have to pay federal income taxes. My income will be below the bracket where I would have to pay income tax and I could get $500.00 from the lottery fund to pay on my property tax. In Pennsylvania the lottery funds senior citizens on thier property taxes and helps them to pay for part d medicare according to your income. SOUND LIKE A PLAN??!!! S:Dlarvic
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #3
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    We don't do many American tax returns, but we do a lot of Canadian ones.

    General information is: if it is a rebate on taxes and you pay no taxes you get no rebate. They won't give you back money you don't pay out. If it is a tax credit, it my be transferable to the next year (unless it says "one time" - that's usually a fancy way of saying "tough luck if you missed it").

    Consult a tax professional, and I don't mean H&R Block!
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  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #4
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    Same here for 09, I paid no taxes because of the tax rebates of 30% for solar plus the $1500 for AC replacement (combined for 09-10). We still carried over about $4000 to the 2010 year and will have another $3600 add in for 2010 from the panel add we are doing this year. We are also adding in Solar hot water this year for another approximate $1750.

    We are looking at a Volt as well this year if GM can come through in time for an additional $7500 else it will be next year.
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  • niel
    niel Solar Expert Posts: 10,300 ✭✭✭✭
    #5
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    there is a difference between paying no taxes at the end of the year and paying no taxes. one infers no work to pay them and the other just means they took too much from you over the year to owe them. in either case you're ripped off of benefiting from a year end tax break unless you have a way around it as solarvic does. i got rooked out of it due to the same thing when i got my boiler put in a few years back. the alternative may be to have less tax taken out of your pay so that you will owe at the year's end.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,654 admin
    #6
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    Be careful, underpayment of US Federal and State Income withholding/estimated tax payments can be a very costly mistake if you owe a fair amount at tax time...

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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  • solar_dave
    solar_dave Solar Expert Posts: 2,397 ✭✭✭✭
    #7
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    BB. wrote: »
    Be careful, underpayment of US Federal and State Income withholding/estimated tax payments can be a very costly mistake if you owe a fair amount at tax time...

    -Bill

    Oh so true!, Been there as a independent contractor on 1099 and had to grovel at the underpayment with the IRS. I did pay them the balance in full and on time at filing time but they really can sock it to you for underpayment..

    Yes you loose the use of those funds until filing time, but it is a much better situation than getting caught up in tax man in any way.

    Really the right way to do it is to activate your project on or slightly before Dec 31, and file for the tax refund ASAP after that.
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  • VolcanoSolar
    VolcanoSolar Solar Expert Posts: 56 ✭
    #8
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    clayhill wrote: »
    If anyone knows a way to claim the rebate let me know.

    Clayhill, Indiana

    You can keep rolling it over year after year. Perhaps in future years your tax situation will change and you can use it. I've been rolling over unused portions of both federal and state solar credits for three years now, and I changed my paycheck tax withholdings to zero, knowing that at tax time I wouldn't owe anything because of the credits.

    But even if you can't apply it this year or next, keep filing that form each year in order to roll over the credit to the following year. As far as I know there's no expiration date on the federal credits.
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  • scottj
    scottj Registered Users Posts: 7 ✭
    #9
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    The IRS Form 3468 is the typicall ITC form. If you want cash instead of a tax credit, you have to check out Sec 1603, but you have to be a business or agriculture entity.
    http://www.awea.org/legislative/#SW
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  • RCinFLA
    RCinFLA Solar Expert Posts: 1,485 ✭✭✭✭
    #10
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    Does AMT come into play for energy credits?
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  • strawbale
    strawbale Solar Expert Posts: 31 ✭✭✭
    #11
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    Similar "dilemma" here of generally owing little or no federal taxes and having a $17,000. credit to play with. I converted two IRA's to Roth IRA's to create additional taxable income for this year.

    Strawbale
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  • sub3marathonman
    sub3marathonman Solar Expert Posts: 300 ✭✭✭
    #12
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    VolcanoSolar wrote: »
    But even if you can't apply it this year or next, keep filing that form each year in order to roll over the credit to the following year. As far as I know there's no expiration date on the federal credits.

    I thought the federal credits expired in 2015 or 2016. Maybe somebody here knows definitely, otherwise I'll have to try to look it up again.

    Also, now I'm wondering for the carryover if you're having to file a special form again each year showing the carryover from the previous year.
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  • BilljustBill
    BilljustBill Solar Expert Posts: 219 ✭✭✭
    #13
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    sub3marathonman wrote: »
    I thought the federal credits expired in 2015 or 2016. Maybe somebody here knows definitely, otherwise I'll have to try to look it up again.

    Also, now I'm wondering for the carryover if you're having to file a special form again each year showing the carryover from the previous year.

    Here's a good site that explains what expires on Dec. 31, 2010, and the Solar and Wind tax credits that expire in the future.

    http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index

    What was a nice surprise was the "Principal Residence" detail. It's not just the home you live in, but it is also the extending living space on the property such as outside buildings, workshop, etc...
    Bill
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  • cpetku
    cpetku Registered Users Posts: 22 ✭
    #14
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    solar_dave wrote: »
    Really the right way to do it is to activate your project on or slightly before Dec 31, and file for the tax refund ASAP after that.

    What is your definition of "activate" AHJ signoff, Utility signoff?
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  • SCharles
    SCharles Solar Expert Posts: 123 ✭✭
    #15
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    From what I've read, it seems that for photovoltaic tax credits, one can only count the solar panels themselves for credit. In past years, sometimes the credit included anything to do with the panel charging system, such as combiner boxes, controllers. Once back in the 80s I was even able to claim a percentage of the cost of a new battery bank.

    Am I reading this correctly, that it is only the actual panels themselves that qualify now?
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  • solarvic
    solarvic Solar Expert Posts: 1,071 ✭✭✭✭
    #16
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar
    SCharles wrote: »
    From what I've read, it seems that for photovoltaic tax credits, one can only count the solar panels themselves for credit. In past years, sometimes the credit included anything to do with the panel charging system, such as combiner boxes, controllers. Once back in the 80s I was even able to claim a percentage of the cost of a new battery bank.

    Am I reading this correctly, that it is only the actual panels themselves that qualify now?
    Where did you read that only the solar panels qualify for tax credit? Last year I claimed wire, pipe, racks, permits, inspection fee. inverters, excavation for the wire and anything else I could think of. electrician charges and it was all approved. I got a letter that I didn,t claim the make work rebate and the IRS added that to the figure of tax I still got coming to me. :Dsolarvic:D
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  • SCharles
    SCharles Solar Expert Posts: 123 ✭✭
    #17
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    I was reading up, last week, on some Nickel Iron batteries. I need batteries before too long. During this research, I came across several references to the 30% rebate on renewable energy systems and also the credits for Energy Star appliances, etc., etc. The statements I read all said, and I'll paraphrase til I can look them up again, "solar electric panels" or "photovoltaic panels." It made me nervous about counting on declaring for anything but the actual panels. A neighbor told me he'd come to the same realization and his CPA is looking into it but says, in preliminary answer, that it is only the panels. Now, I don't know his CPA, and I have a friend who is one and to whom I am going to talk about it [and he really knows his stuff]. I was just hoping someone here on the forum would reassure me. I don't need to purchase more panels. I do need to do some upgrades in the system, however, and in years past, when credits or rebates were available, anything at all to do with the system was appropriate for declaration: wiring, hardware, pv panel racks, conduit, inverters, and so on.

    I am certainly hoping this is still the case. I am going to go back and look again at the info to see whether I can find where it might state "photovoltaic systems" or something. The use of the specific word "panels" is what got to me.
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  • BB.
    BB. Super Moderators, Administrators Posts: 33,654 admin
    #18
    Re: The 30 % rebate on Wind & Solar

    Place to start with is the IRS forms themselves... And, who knows what next year's forms will be exactly. There are lots of changes/issues in Washington DC right now and I would not bet the farm on what any politician will do next week.

    -Bill
    Near San Francisco California: 3.5kWatt Grid Tied Solar power system+small backup genset
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